Genetic diversity among sea snakes of the genus Hydrophis (Elapidae, Reptilia) in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman

The Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman are two important marine ecosystems in southern Iran with rich biodiversity. Sea snakes of the genus Hydrophis are important components of the animal diversity in this area. Ten species of the genus Hydrophis have been distinguished in the region and their genetic structure was compared with other populations in south and southeast Asia.  We found that five species (including H. platurus, H. cyanocinctus, H. spiralis, H. schistosus and H. gracilis, H. lapemiodes ) show high genetic similarity with conspecific populations in the Indian Ocean and Australia. Hydrophis curtus from southern Iran shows a high level of differentiation from other populations in Sri Lanka and Australia. Hydrophis curtus in our study shows variation and the Iranian samples of the species of 0.6% and 6% genetic distance from other populations in Sri Lanka for 16S and COI gene fragments, respectively. This means the variability between Iranian and southeast Asia populations may reveal new genetic lineages and the need of further morphological evaluations to re-evaluate their taxonomic position.